DEFIANCE, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Advantage Powder Coating in Defiance for 15 safety violations following an inspection resulting from the January death of a pedestal grinder operator who was killed when the abrasive wheel on the grinder exploded and struck the operator on the head.

"Employers have a responsibility to protect the safety of their workers, and that includes having proper machine guards installed and following appropriate safety procedures to prevent tragedies like this one," said Michael Connors, OSHA's regional director in Chicago, Ill. "No worker should ever risk injury or death to earn a paycheck."

Two willful violations were cited for a lack of properly adjusted safety guards and work rests on pedestal grinders. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Eleven serious citations include failing to have underhung cranes marked with rated load capacity; mark hook-lifting devices with rated capacity; provide identifying information for slings; and provide machine guarding on abrasive wheel machinery. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Two other-than-serious record-keeping violations include failing to record work-related injuries that occurred in 2008 and 2009. Advantage Powder Coating faces total proposed penalties of $159,600.

OSHA has placed Advantage Powder Coating in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Advantage Powder Coating was placed in the program for receiving two willful violations of hazards covered under the agency's National Emphasis Program on Amputations. For more information on SVEP, visit http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=4503.

Advantage Powder Coating has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call OSHA's Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542. To report workplace incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call the agency's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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